Palestinian U.N. ambassador cries while speaking on Gaza

Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour cried on Friday as he spoke at the Security Council about the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Mansour demanded that the council "uphold the law to end these crimes and violations against our people and ensure their protection."

"Should our peaceful, diplomatic and political efforts in this regard fail, we will have no recourse but to turn to the judicial bodies of the United Nations and the international system," Mansour told the council.

Israel’s Operation Protective Edge is the bloodiest conflict in the besieged coastal enclave since 2009.

Israel launched its ground offensive late Thursday, starting a new phase in the operation which it said was aimed at destroying tunnels used by the territory's dominant power, Islamist movement Hamas.

New deaths on Saturday took to 318 the toll from an Israeli operation to stamp out rocket fire from Gaza, many of them women and children.

One Israeli civilian and one Israeli soldier have been killed since the campaign started on July 8, and several wounded.

(With AFP)